Showing posts with label Nova Scotia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nova Scotia. Show all posts

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving!

A holiday in which we give thanks for the year we have had, and in traditional terms - for the harvest of the field.

It is always on the second Monday of the month of October - having been decided in 1931. Before that, it had been observed on the same day as Armistice Day - both being on November 11th.

This weekend has been nice, sunny and warm. A lot different from that Thanksgiving in 1993 when it snowed and snowed, followed by the coldest winter that had been seen in these parts in years. I remember it well because it was the first year in our new house, and to see the grounds covered in snow was more like Christmas than Thanksgiving.

It has always been a family holiday with turkey, dressing, and all of those roots vegetables - potatoes, carrots, turnips, and a pumpkin or apple pie.

The dinner was usually eaten on Sunday or Monday (it was always on Sunday in my house), and the drive on Monday to my maternal grandparents (Blades) house, and to see my maternal aunts and uncles and cousins who all lived in the town of Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia.

Today, I am staying home to proof an article I have coming out on Chinese-Canadian Immigration in the early 1880s to 1900s, and then tomorrow I will go for a drive to the beautiful Gatineau Hills - which are so colourful this time of year.

So whichever way you celebrate your Thanksgiving weekend, may it be a pleasant one!

And to our American cousins, we wish you the same, just a bit earlier. Enjoy the playoffs!


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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Voter's List at LAC

I can remember when I was but a youngster of voting age in the early '70s living on Olivet Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, stopping on my way to work to read the Voter's List (a separate list was posted for each of the elections - municipal, provincial, and federal) stapled on the local telephone pole outside of the apartment.

I had to stop and check the list to see if I was there, and that they had spelled everyting correctly, and I was always there - and, yes, the information about me was true!

You will find information on the Voter's List held be the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) under <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-911.006-e.html>.

You will find that the LAC holds the Federal General Elections Lists for the years 1935, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980 - only they are only available by microfilm.

You may want to check the Provincial and Territoral Archives who hold Voter's List for provincial elections, and there are many municipal archives who also hold voter's lists.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments - 1871

After 25 years of studying and working with the 1871 Canada Census, Elizabeth and Gerald Bloomfield of Guelph, Ontario have released the Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments.

They have digitized the industrial census from the 1871 Census of Canada - the only detailed industrial census returns to survive so completely from the nineteenth century. More than 45, 000 industrial establishments are put into databases on the website <http://www.canind71.uoguelph.ca>.

The website provides information for the four provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario - covered in the 1871 Canadian Census.

I have checked the website and thre are the divisions which cover the businesses themselves, the people who were involved with the business, power (whether it be water, etc.), and the places where the businesses were located.

I discovered that a number of business in Shelburne and Kentville, Nova Scotia where my ancestors are from are mentioned, and I doubt that I would have ever taken the time to look them up on my own - now they are indexed by the Bloomfields!

There are barrel makers and shipbuilding companies that one would expect to find in a seaside town like Shelburne and businesses like agriculture in Kentville, a farming town in 1871. What this census does is that it presents a picture of the town that can help you place your relatives within the industrial mieu of the time.

And it can also provide material for the study of the technology, business and work organization of industrial activity, and the history of families, businesses and communities in 19th century Canada.

Well worth the visit, since it is the first time it has been done on such a large scale, and it does give a snapshot of industrial development in Canada in 1871.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

New Website

Every American blog you see today has news from Illya d'Addezio <www.GenealogyToday.com> saying that he will have a new webpage on the free Live Roots website which will be launched October 10th. The site will list the various genealogy databases and publishers' catalogs.

But we already have a free website which highlights some Canadian sites, and it is the Canadian Genealogy Projects Registry!

It was started in the late 1990s and is a part of the Alberta Family Histories Society <www.afhs.ab.ca/registry/index.html>.

There is births, marriages and deaths already online from church records, civil records, newspaper announcements, bibliographies, and directories - to name but a few resources from all over the country.

Immigration, passenger lists, land-related records, and lineages are some other records that are included.

I have used the registry in looking for my Webster ancestry in Kentville, Nova Scotia (and I found their deaths in newspaper listings) and one branch of the family that went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I also found them there.

Also check the Brian W. Hutchinson Scholarship while you are there!

It is a scholarship open to all genealogists to Canadians and is worth $500.00 annually to the person to use for book(s) and the cost of tuition in a recognized educational or accrediation/certification program.

The deadline to submit is 31 December, 2008.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Ancestry.ca Launches Online the "Canadian Passenger Lists 1865-1935"

At 10 o'clock this morning (on Tuesday, September 16, 2008), Josh Hanna — Ancestry.com's Senior Vice-President — announced in Toronto that it has put the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 online at <http://landing.ancestry.ca/intl/canada/passenger/lists.aspx> in both French and English (simply click the language link at the top of the page).

I have been on the site (even though all of my ancestors came to Canada pre-1865) to see what it is all about, and there is 1,441 BARCLAYs who came to Canada and 178 BLADES. (To those who don't know - my father's line is through the surname of BARCLAY, and my mother's name was BLADES - both of them descendent from United Empire Loyalists who came to Canada in 1783 and 1784, respectivly, from the United States.)

The passenger lists covers the provinces and cities of Quebec (Quebec Ports, May 1865-June 1908, June 1919-July 1921, April 1925-November 1935); Montreal (April 1925-November 1935); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1881-October 1922, 1925-1935); North Sydney, Nova Scotia (November 1906, August 1908-August 1922, 1925-1935); Saint John, New Brunswick ( 1900-September 1922, 1925-1935); Vancouver, British Columbia (1905-September 1922, 1925-1935); Victoria, British Columbia and Pacific Ports (April 1905-September 1922, 1925-1935) and some eastern U.S. Ports (July 1905-1919, 1925-1928) and New York City, which covers 1906 to 1921.

When you put the name into the search engine you may get their estimated year of birth, their birth country (although many of the immigrants did not mention their country of birth), date of arrival, name of the vessel, and port of departure. You can then view the image from which the information was taken.

It appears that the partnership that was forged between Ancestry.com and the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in May, 2007 was not adhered to in this instance because nowhere is the LAC mentioned in the Ancestry.com press release.*

But it may be worth checking the LAC site <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/immigrants> because they have some of the passenger lists onsite, too. They also have the Moving Here, Staying Here. The Canadian Immigrant Experience online, and it's worth looking at it because it can give you the background behind immigration.

This past August, Sylvie Tremblay, Chief Project Manager of the Canada Genealogy Centre, said that the LAC has embarked on a three to five year project where they hope to develop a family history site where you will go to get the "story behind the headlines". They will make the connections for you between the databases, and the history in family history, and they are looking towards wikis to do this - so watch for that.

In the meantime, you can look up your ancestor on Ancestry.ca, and decide if you want to spend the money to do a deeper search. Remember, you can also get a 14-day trial at <www.ancestry.ca>.

*The LAC is mentioned in the CNW News Release. It refers to the LAC in that the LAC holds the official records on microfilm.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Releases Second World War Service Files

I have been waiting patiently for the LAC to release the Second World War Service Files of the Canadian Armed War (1939-1945) Dead.

I first found out about the database in the spring of this year, and last week, Sylvie Tremblay, Chief Project Head of the Canada Genealogy Centre, said that they were finally on the website.

Of the 1,159,000 men and women who served in the war, 44,093 died.

If you go to the site at <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/war-dead/index-e.html> and put in a last name, you will get the date of birth, date on death, and the service number of the member.

If that is not enough information, you can press on the name and — in addition to the information already given — also get their rank, the unit in which they served, what force they were in (army, navy, air force), and the reference and volume numbers of the reference.

There has been some criticism of the database because you won't see the person's address on the record - so if there are two people with the same name, you will need to know the date of death of the person you are researching.

I had two uncles on my father's side (BARCLAY) who were in the war. Luckily, they made it through. My father did go to the depot in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to join, but was refused because of his knees, and so didn't go to war.

John (Johnnie) was in the Canadian Navy and sailed on the convoy ships during the war, and Perley was in the Canadian Army and fought in Sicily.

I also had two brothers on my mother's side (BLADES) who were in the war. Walter and Arthur were in the Canadian Army in Europe.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Yesterday was my birthday!

I have survived another year!

This seemed like it has been a long year, with many twists and turns, numerous genealogical conferences, much travel, and much work - I have had 24 articles published this year, and started this blog.

I renewed old friendships from all over, and made new ones. And I value each one.

It is my dream to write many more articles, and to get the blog rolling out every day, and to go to as many conferences as possible. Mighty big order - let's see if I'm up to it.

I had one big genealogy find this year, and that was of my great-great-great-uncle Andrew BARCLAY.

My cousin Charles BARCLAY and I have searched high and low for him, and he always seemed to slip through our fingers - until just by happenstance I "Googled" one of his daughters this past spring while I was waiting for a drive one day, and there it was - she had written a diary!

And one part of it was on the Town of Argyle (Archives) website. I rushed a note off to them and in no time flat I had the entire diary that had been donated to them by her family (HALEY from Alemeda County, California), and I found the story about her father and his death.

How he died of yellow fever in San Domingo after going there from Shelburne, Nova Scotia on ship to trade the town's fish for rum and sugar.

And then this summer in August, a query I put on the Internet six years ago bore fruit because I was sent a picture of who else? Andrew Barclay!

So the research is complete, and I am happy! Now I will see if I can get the book completed (on Andrew BARCLAY, Loyalist), and published.

See my posting on him in this blog, under "Let Cousins Find You" at <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/08/let-cousins-find-you.html>.

So I have had a wonderful year as far as the business of genealogy is concerned.

I try to remember that it's not the idea that we are given another day to live, but it is what do we do with that day that counts.

May you have your own Happpy Birthday!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Nova Scotia Celebrates Loyalists

Nova Scotia celebrates the 225th anniversary of the arrival of Loyalists this summer. The majority came from other cities and areas to the city of New York, and then left in the spring and summer of 1783 to settle in such places as Shelburne, Digby, and Guysborough. They were given the choice of going or staying in the U.S., but many found it difficult because they supported the British Crown during the American Revolution.

I just received the newsletter from the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society Newsletter <http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne>
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The newsletter reports that people at the Society has written two books which will be of interest to Loyalists. They are "Founders of Shelburne Nova Scotia Who Came, 1783-1793", and "Remarks and Rough Memorandums: Captains William Both Royal Corps of Engineers, Shelburne, Nova Scotia 1785, 1787, 1789".

In this newsletter, from page 4 to page 5, is the preface to the first book mentioned in the above paragraph, and it is very interesting. Did you know that at the beginnings of the town, it was the fourth largest city in North America!

On page 6 to page 7 are excerpts from the Shelburne Budget from 10 January, 1901 to 15 September, 1901.

Not only is it my hometown, but I am Loyalist on both sides of my family (Barclay & Blades), as is true of a lot of people from Shelburne and area.

Although I was unable to go to Shelburne myself to help with the celebrations, I encourage you to go to their website and see what is available. They have oodles of resource materials, and the centre of the town is a heritage section where you can see the town as it looked in 1783.